Fall 2023

Organizational Behavior

Chapter 9
Foundations of Group Behavior

Prof. Kyoung Won Park

9-1
 Learning Questions

• What are the differences between different types of groups?

• What are the five stages of group development?

• What are the group properties?

– How do norms and status in group exert influence on an individual’s behavior?
– Do size matter group performance?
– What are the benefits and disadvantages of cohesive groups?
– Why is diversity important for group effectiveness?

• What are the strengths and weaknesses of group decision-making?

 Groups

• A group is defined as two or more individuals, interacting and being interdependent, who
have come together to achieve particular objectives.

• Groups can be either formal or informal.

– Formal groups: those defined by the organization’s structure
– Informal groups: alliances that are neither formally structured nor organizationally determined
 Groups

• There is no single reason why individuals join groups.

• Social identity theory proposes that people have emotional reactions to the failure or
success of their group because their self-esteem gets tied into the performance of the
group.

• Several characteristics make a social identity important to a person.

– Similarity - Distinctiveness
– Status
– Uncertainty reduction
 Groups

• Ingroups and outgroups

– Ingroup favoritism occurs when we see members of our group as better than other people, and
people not in our group as all the same.
– Whenever there is an ingroup, there is by necessity an outgroup, which is sometimes everyone
else, but is usually an identified group known by the ingroup’s members.

• Social identity threat

– Ingroups and outgroups pave the way for social identity threat, which is akin to stereotype
threat.
– Individuals believe they will be personally negatively evaluated due to their association with a
devalued group, and they may lose confidence and performance effectiveness.
 The Five Stages of Group Development

• Stages of Group Development

Forming Storming Norming Performing Adjourning

 The Five Stages of Group Development

• Group effectiveness
– Groups proceed through the stages of group development at different rates.
– Those with a strong sense of purpose and strategy rapidly achieve high performance and improve
over time.
– Similarly, groups that begin with a positive social focus appear to achieve the “performing” stage
more rapidly.
The Punctuated Equilibrium Model
 Group Properties: 1 Roles

• Role
– A set of expected behavior patterns attributed to someone occupying a given position in a social
unit.
– Role perception: one’s perception of how to act in a given situation.
– Role expectations: how others believe one should act in a given situation.
• Psychological contract
– Role conflict: situation in which an individual faces divergent role expectations.
• We can experience inter-role conflict when the expectations of our different, separate groups are in
opposition.
 Group Properties: 2 Norms

• Norms
– Acceptable standards of behavior within a group that are shared by the group’s members.

• Norms and Emotions

– A recent study found that, in a task group, individuals’ emotions influenced the group’s emotions
and vice versa.
– Researchers have also found that norms dictated the experience of emotions for the individuals
and for the groups – in other words, people grew to interpret their shared emotions in the same
way.
 Group Properties: 2 Norms

• Exhibit 9-2 Examples of Cards Used in Asch’s Study

 Group Properties: 2 Norms

• Positive Norms and Group Outcomes

– One goal of every organization with corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives is for its values
to hold normative sway over employees.
– If employees aligned their thinking with positive norms, these norms would become stronger and
the probability of positive impact would grow exponentially.
– Positive group norms may well beget positive outcomes, but only if other factors are present.

• Norms and Culture

– Do people in collectivist cultures have different norms than people in individualist cultures? Of
course they do.
– But did you know that our orientation may be changed, even after years of living in one society.
 Group Properties

• Exhibit 9-3 Typology of Deviant Workplace Behavior

Production Property Political Personal aggression

• Leaving early • Sabotage • Showing favoritism • Sexual harassment

• Intentionally • Lying about hours • Gossiping and • Verbal abuse
working slowly worked spreading rumors • Stealing from
• Wasting resources • Stealing from the • Blaming coworkers coworkers
organization
 Group Properties: 3 Status

• Status
– Differences in status characteristics create status hierarchies within groups (Status characteristics
theory).
– Status derived from one of three sources:
• The power a person wields over others;
• A person’s ability to contribute to group’s goals; and
• Individual’s personal characteristics.
 Group Properties: 3 Status

• Status has some interesting effects on the power of norms and pressures to conform.
– Status and norms
– Status and group interaction
– Status inequity
 Group Properties: 4 Size

• Size
– The size of a group affects the group’s overall behavior.
– Smaller groups are faster at completing tasks than larger ones.
– Large groups in problem solving do better.
• Large groups are good at gaining input.
• Smaller groups are better doing something with input.
– Social loafing: the tendency for individuals to expend less effort when working collectively than
alone.
 Group Properties: 5 Cohesiveness

• Cohesiveness
– The degree to which members are attracted to
each other and are motivated to stay in the
group.
– It is important because it is related to the
group’s productivity
• The relationship of cohesiveness and
productivity depends on the performance-
related norms established by the group.
– If performance-related norms are high, a
cohesive group will be more productive. If
cohesiveness is high and performance
norms are low, productivity will be low.
 Group Properties: 6 Diversity

• Diversity
– Diversity in the group’s membership
• The degree to which members of the group are similar to, or different from, one another.
• Surface-level vs. Deep-level
– Research finds
• Benefits and costs of diversity
• More difference in values and option, the greater its conflict
• Diversity can be bad for groups, unless managed effectively
– The impact of diversity on groups is mixed.
• It is difficult to be in a diverse group in the short term.
• Over time diversity may help them be more open-minded and creative.
• Even positive effects are unlikely to be especially strong.
 Strengths and Weaknesses
of Group Decision-Making
• Strengths • Effectiveness and efficiency of group
– Complete knowledge decisions:
– Diversity of views – Accuracy
– Almost always out performs individuals – Speed
– Increase acceptance of solutions – Creativity
– Acceptance
• Weaknesses
– Consume time
– Create conflict
– Generate conformity pressures
 Strengths and Weaknesses
of Group Decision-Making
• Source of breath and depth of input

• Groupthink
– It describes situations in which group pressures for conformity deter the group from critically
appraising unusual, minority, or unpopular views.

• Groupshift (or Group polarization)

– It describes the way of discussing given set of alternatives and arriving at a solution.
– Group members tend to exaggerate the initial positions they hold, being toward a risky shift.
 Interacting, Brainstorming,
Nominal, and Electronic Meeting Groups
• Interacting groups
– Most group decision-making takes place in interacting groups.
– In these groups, members meet face to face and rely on both verbal and nonverbal interaction to
communicate with each other.
– Interacting groups often censor themselves and pressure individual members toward conformity
of opinion.
 Interacting, Brainstorming,
Nominal, and Electronic Meeting Groups
• Brainstorming
– Overcome pressures for conformity
– The process:
• The group leader states the problem clearly.
• Members then “free-wheel” as many alternatives as they can.
• No criticism is allowed.
• One idea stimulates others, and group members are encouraged to “think the unusual.”
 Interacting, Brainstorming,
Nominal, and Electronic Meeting Groups
• Nominal group technique
– Overcome pressures for conformity
– Restricts discussion or interpersonal communication during the decision-making process.
– Group members are all physically present, but members operate independently.
– The chief advantage of the nominal group technique is that it permits the group to meet formally
but does not restrict independent thinking, as does the interacting group.

• Nominal begins when a problem is presented, then the following steps take place.
– Members meet as a group but each member writes down his or her ideas on the problem.
– After this silent period, each member presents one idea to the group.
– The ideas are discussed for clarity.
– Each group member rank-orders the ideas.
– The idea with the highest aggregate ranking determines the final decision.
 Interacting, Brainstorming,
Nominal, and Electronic Meeting Groups
• The computer-assisted group or electronic meeting blends the nominal group technique
with sophisticated computer technology.
– Early evidence, suggests electronic meetings don’t achieve most of their proposed benefits.
– Lead to decreased group effectiveness,
– Require more time to complete tasks,
– Result in reduced member satisfaction compared with face-to-face groups.
 Interacting, Brainstorming,
Nominal, and Electronic Meeting Groups
• Exhibit 9-5 Evaluating Group Effectiveness

Type of Group
Effectiveness Criteria
Interacting Brainstorming Nominal
Number and quality of ideas Low Moderate High
Social pressure High Low Moderate
Money costs Low Low Low
Speed Moderate Moderate Moderate
Task orientation Low High High
Potential for interpersonal conflict High Low Moderate
Commitment to solution High Not applicable Moderate
Development of group cohesiveness High High Moderate
 Implications for Managers

• Recognize that groups can have a dramatic impact on individual behavior in organizations, to either
positive or negative effect. Therefore, pay special attention to roles, norms, and cohesion—to
understand how these are operating within a group is to understand how the group is likely to
behave.

• To decrease the possibility of deviant workplace activities, ensure that group norms do not support
antisocial behavior.

• Pay attention to the status aspect of groups. Because lower-status people tend to participate less in
group discussions, groups with high status differences are likely to inhibit input from lower-status
members and reduce their potential.

• Use larger groups for fact-finding activities and smaller groups for action-taking tasks. With larger
groups, provide measures of individual performance.

• To increase employee satisfaction, make certain people perceive their job roles accurately.